Spike, after being captured by the commandos, is being held hostage by them in a hi-tech facility underneath the University. He manages to escape and heads to find Buffy, whom he assumes is behind this. Instead, he finds Willow...

John Levesque

Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Buffy to perfection in this witty, intelligent and thoroughly entertaining series based loosely on the 1992 film, and if she isn't the next closet-door poster queen - or the Internet-shrine equivalent - I'll be stunned. [10 Mar 1997, p.C1]

Steve Johnson

The performances are generally strong, but the devilishly clever, culturally hyper-attuned dialogue (by executive producer Josh Whedon, who wrote the original and worked on "Speed" and "Toy Story") is what makes this stand out. [10 Mar 1997, p.C8]

Matt Roush

The winsome Sarah Michelle Gellar is a huge improvement over bubblehead Kristy Swanson as the new Buffy, moving with her mom to the "one-Starbucks town" of Sunnydale, Calif. She's cute and pert but nobody's fool. [10 Mar 1997, p.3D]

Tom Gliatto

David Okamoto

Think of it as My So-Called Afterlife or Nancy Drew Blood: Despite some lapses into acute self-awareness, Buffy is a biting, stylish high-school drama masquerading as a vampire-movie spinoff and cleverly combining the dark humor of Heathers, the homeroom angst of Beverly Hills, 90210 and the goofy, mystery-solving camaraderie of Scooby Doo, Where Are You? [10 Mar 1997, p.15A]

Frederic M. Biddle

Wendy J. Williams

Unlike most movie-inspired TV series - in which the TV version is usually a soggier incarnation of its movie original - this Buffy, created by Joss Whedon, an Oscar nominee for his "Toy Story" script, fulfills some of the promise sorely lacking in the 1992 big-screen version. [10 Mar 1997, p.32]